Debates of Oct. 18th, 2001

The Economy

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the opinions expressed by the majority of the economists whom I met yesterday evening are that, given the substantial tax reductions already in place, given the infrastructure program that is about to begin, and given the lower interest rates, the Canadian government has done what it intended to do and that is a lot more than the United States.

Immigration

[Art Hanger, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister continually hides behind Bill C-11 as the panacea to fix this problem. Yet the problem time and time again centres around the administration of what is in the present act and the enforcement of such. That is the problem.

Two days ago Sergeant Philippe Lapierre of the RCMP's counterterrorism section said at a conference on money laundering in Ottawa that terrorists in Canada follow a similar pattern. Here is an authority who says--

[The Speaker]

I do not know if there is a question there, but the hon. member has used up all his time. Maybe he would like to move to the second question unless the minister wants to respond to the preamble.

[Elinor Caplan, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I disagree with the preamble. We know that there are many people who have all kinds of opinions about the bill, but there is no question that Bill C-11 is a big improvement over what exists today.

[Art Hanger, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, now I will quote what Sergeant Lapierre had to say. He said:

Some people are sent here with a mission and some people come on their own and are recruited. But once here they all have the same modus operandi.

They apply for refugee status, they apply for welfare and health cards. They get involved in theft and then they try to launder the money.

How is the minister going to stop foreign criminals from entering the country and abusing our generosity?

[Elinor Caplan, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, criminals are inadmissible to Canada. Terrorists and security threats, those who have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity are inadmissible to Canada. As soon as we have evidence of that, we either stop them from entering or if we find them here, we move to detain and deport them as quickly as possible.

What concerns me is the hon. member is attempting to use a broad brush and equate all refugees with those who are security threats or terrorists. That is simply not true.

Transport

[Jean Augustine, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport.

Air traffic has resumed to the United States over the past few weeks, but Canada has not yet been given permission to fly from Pearson and other Canadian points to Reagan national airport in Washington, D.C. When will the minister raise this issue with U.S. authorities?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I shall be meeting Secretary Mineta tomorrow to discuss the air security system and the financial health of airlines. Just before question period he called me to say that he will allow Air Canada to fly into Reagan national airport from Toronto as soon as possible. We hope that the flights from Montreal and Ottawa will be resumed shortly after that.

Canada--U.S. Border

[Joe Comartin, NDP, Windsor—St. Clair, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Windsor-Detroit has the largest and busiest border crossings in North America. The slowdowns have caused tremendous devastation to the local economy and in fact are threatening the national economy. There have been layoffs in both the auto sector and the service sector, 700 at the Windsor casino last week alone.

What concrete actions is the government taking to ensure that our U.S. counterparts will address this problem and save jobs for Canadian citizens?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I can inform the House that I personally was in Washington yesterday speaking to senior members of congress, both the house of representatives and the senate, and members of the administration about these matters. I vigorously urged them to take steps to do what is necessary to get the border operating more smoothly. I know my colleague the Minister of National Revenue is working on measures in that regard.

I can assure the House and the people of Windsor and Detroit that this is one of our top priorities. We are pushing for early solutions because of the importance of this to the two economies.

[Joe Comartin, NDP, Windsor—St. Clair, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is good to see the Deputy Prime Minister back on his feet.

Having said that, he was in Washington yesterday at a committee hearing. In fact that committee was talking about tightening up the controls at the border. That is the last thing we need, at least at Windsor-Detroit. What specific things is the government doing? It has had a month and half since September 11 and I have not seen the government do one thing.

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my hon. friend's comment about my recovery from surgery, but he must be suffering from some kind of blindness himself if he cannot see what the government has been doing.

We have been vigorously pressing for prompt action on the part of the American authorities, the people who need to take the steps which will allow traffic to flow more freely between our two countries. Again I repeat that I had talks yesterday. I remind him of the efforts of the Minister of National Revenue. My hon. friend ought to get a new pair of glasses and then he will see what actions have been taken. I look forward to seeing results of those actions before too long.

It was not at a committee hearing that I had the meetings--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Fraser Valley.

Health

[Chuck Strahl, Canadian Alliance, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Health Canada has ordered nearly one million tablets of a generic version of Cipro, one of the drugs used to treat anthrax, even though the patent owner of the drug has adequate stock on hand, has tripled its production, and was unaware of Health Canada's decision to place an order with a generic manufacturer. The only legal reason to overrule the patent laws is if the government has declared a domestic state of emergency.

Can the Minister of Industry tell the House if he believes it is a good idea to break Canadian patent law or has he declared a state of emergency and simply forgot to tell the House of Commons?

[Jeannot Castonguay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada wishes to reassure all Canadians that, in the event of a bioterrorist attacks, we will be ready.

One of the ways we can be sure to be ready is to ensure that we are able to respond to such attacks with the necessary drugs.

In the circumstances, it was important to ensure that we did indeed have these drugs on hand. We have a good many of them already, and the others will follow.

[André Bachand, Progressive Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary is practically admitting that they are in contravention of their own legislation.

That having been said, here is another question which the parliamentary secretary will perhaps answer. If he is prepared to buy generic drugs, can he guarantee the public that they are safe, that Health Canada is approving a generic drug to save the lives of thousands in the event of a disaster?

Will the parliamentary secretary give us a clear answer this time?

[Jeannot Castonguay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we must be prepared for this eventuality, which may be unlikely, but which does exist.

I can assure the member that even though the drugs are generic, they will meet requirements. They are safe. Once again, I think that it is important to stop spreading panic among Canadians.

Canadians need to be told that we are ready and that these are safe drugs. We have assumed our responsibilities, and I am very proud of the role we are playing in government.

Immigration

[Carol Skelton, Canadian Alliance, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have many questions about the government's priorities when it comes to controlling our borders and who comes to Canada.

Is it true that the government sends legal aid lawyers to foreign embassies to help applicants and if so, why?

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Minister of State and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member did not say applicants to what. Perhaps in her supplementary she could do so and then the appropriate minister will gladly respond.

[Carol Skelton, Canadian Alliance, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Mr. Speaker, immigrants who come into Canada, to our border.

The minister recently announced $9 million for new employees. How many full time positions does that mean? How many employees will she put on the frontline?

[Elinor Caplan, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to answer the member's question. In fact, we received $49 million and $9 million will hire over 100 new full time employees. They will be deployed to the border points across the country to ensure that Canada does its part to secure the Canada-U.S. border.

Money Laundering

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

Yesterday, in response to a question, the Minister of Finance stated that Canada was a leader in the battle against money laundering.

However, the exact opposite of this was said by John Mair of the RCMP at a conference on this subject held in Montreal this week.

Does the Minister of Finance agree that Canada has some catching up to do in this area, and will he promote an international agency against money laundering such as the international experts are calling for?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has already called for this. Moreover, it is in part because of Canada that the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, an international body created by the G-7, has been created.

I can assure you that its work will continue. Moreover, Canada has already said that staff must be increased so that this can be done as effectively as possible.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has been boasting for several years about playing a lead role on the international level to do away with tax havens.

The reality, however, is that since he took over in 1993, no action has been taken and more than $140 billion have been transferred from Canada to tax havens in the West Indies.

Could the minister stop giving us these fine speeches about his claimed role on the international scene, and instead play his role as the Minister of Finance for Canada and put an end to bilateral agreements with countries that are considered tax havens?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, once again, as the hon. member must be aware, the OECD has put in place a process for examination of all tax havens. Canada has given full support to this entire initiative. Moreover, Canada has given $13 million to countries of the West Indies to ensure that they are able to control money laundering and to examine just how all the problems involved can be solved.